Oh dear. Yet another high school fic. Surprise, surprise. Marvel at my originality:O
I'll try to keep all the chars IC and such, but there's not guarantees.
Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
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Haruno Sakura stood silently before the mirror in her room. She studied the pictures taped there, an unreadable expression on her face.
The photos ranged from kindergarten to last year, ninth grade.
Kindergarten: Sakura was standing in her living room, surrounded by her friends – Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji. It had been her birthday party, and Ino had given her a package of ribbons, all in different colors.
She'd really only been friends-by-association with Shikamaru and Choji... Their parent's had all been friends, so it made sense for their children to be friends too, and then Ino had befriended Sakura, after the Yamanaka had seen some other girls bullying her.
Third grade: Ino and Sakura were having a sleepover at Sakura's house. Ino was putting Sakura's hair up in all sorts of crazy and ridiculous styles, but that had been the point. They'd joked around and talked about Uchiha Sasuke, the hottest boy in class.
Fifth grade: Sakura was being chased by Rock Lee, who had been trying to ask her out since the beginning of grade one. Ino seemed amused by this, and wouldn't help her out at all. Chouji and Shikamaru were standing in the background, the former eating a bag of chips, alongside Hyuga Neji and Tenten. Neji seemed embarrassed by his friend's antics, while Tenten seemed to think it was funny.
Sixth grade: The first year of middle school had been... hectic. Students from several school flooded the middle school. That was the year she'd met Uzumaki Naruto. He hung around with Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba – they were all weird, in her opinion, but Naruto trumped them all. He was SO annoying! Ino claimed he liked her, but Sakura didn't believe her best friend.
Ninth grade: Things had been going well up until the first year of high school...
A sad-seeming Sakura was sitting beside Shika, Choji, Tenten and Lee. Neji and Ino were absent from the picture; both had 'moved on' – which was just a polite euphemism for 'ditched them to become popular' – but over the years Sakura had gotten over the awkwardness with Lee and they'd all become quite good friends, so the pain of being abandoned was lessened, somewhat.
Sakura turned away, to look at the luggage beside her door. Tomorrow would be the beginning of grade ten. Her parents had enrolled her in an international academy based in the Land of Fire, and tomorrow would mark the first day that the school would be open. Konoha Boarding Academy, that was it's name. She wondered vaguely what it would be like, and if she'd know anybody there. She hadn't bothered to see anyone throughout the entire summer, so she hadn't got the chance to ask any of her friends.
---
"Naruto! Do you know what time it is?! Have you packed yet?!" Mrs. Uzumaki's harassed voice floated up to the blonde's room.
"U-um... Of course... Not... Mom," he called back, sweat-dropping.
"Well hurry up! Iruka, would you please help your brother...?"
Naruto sighed and looked back outside. It had been a thoroughly depressing day, and now that night had fallen, things hadn't changed. Clouds obscured the moon, and it was pitch black outside.
"Of course..." Iruka replied.
And now Naruto was being a burden to his adopted brother, Umino Iruka! Things just didn't seem to be going his way today, and although he'd had the whole day to do it, he'd procrastinated and still hadn't even taken his suitcase out of the closet.
He could hear Iruka's footsteps and he climbed the stairs up to his younger brother's room, and a moment later the older boy entered his room.
"...You haven't even taken your suitcase out?" Iruka asked, disbelief evident. He sighed.
"Nope," Naruto replied, flopping back onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling.
"C'mon, aren't you a little bit excited? Besides, Shino, Hinata and Kiba are going to be there," Iruka added, sitting down beside him.
"I guess," the younger boy said, wincing inwardly at the mention of Kiba. Kiba had ditched them, moved on to better things.
His brother poked him in the side, his eyes half-closed to form crescents as he grinned. "Seriously, you're such a lazy ass! Get up and do something! I'm not going to pack for you." He leaned closer, suddenly serious again. "And I hear Sakura's going to Konoha Academy too."
Naruto shoved him away. "Shut up," he grumbled, embarrassed. He slowly sat up and went over to his closet.
Iruka smiled slightly. "Ha, I knew all you needed was motivation."
"I said shut up!" growled Naruto, but he was completely red as he pulled the suitcase out.
His older brother chuckled. "Sure thing, little brother. When I come back in half an hour, that suitcase will be packed, right? Or do you want my help?"
"I'm fine," muttered the blonde, randomly opening drawers and stuffing his clothes into the case.
Iruka shook his head. "Sure you are." He rolled his eyes and went to make sure he'd packed all his necessities, and some of Naruto's too, because he was bound to forget something... Probably several somethings, actually.
---
Sabaku Gaara ((I'm skipping the 'no' because... uh... he needs a last name...)) stared blankly at the sheet his father had just slid in front of him, beside his plate of food.
"...What is this?" Sabaku Temari, his older sister, asked, looking up.
"You're new school," their father replied. "And you'd better not be expelled from this one either!" he added to Gaara, looking his youngest child in the eye. "So no attacking teachers!"
"Whatever," he muttered, glaring back. The stupid fucker had had it coming, and Gaara felt no remorse for what he'd done.
Sabaku Kankuro, the middle sibling, cleared his throat loudly. "It says classes begin tomorrow," he remarked uncomfortably. "And that it's based in... the Land of Fire."
Their father turned away. "Yes," he agreed. "Your enrollments are more diplomatic than anything, you understand," he told them. "So don't screw up."
"Yeah..." Temari agreed. Kankuro nodded, and Gaara... was Gaara. He returned to eating his food. Everything in their life revolved around politics, and he hated it. Why did his father have to be the Kazekage, leader of the most influential city in the Land of Wind?
"We're leaving early, and I expect your things to be packed, and you all ready to go," their father added as he strode out, leaving the three teens alone in the house.
"...Well, I'd better go pack," Kankuro said, hurriedly finished his food. He rose and dumped his dishes into the dishwasher before disappearing into the hall to his room.
"...Idiot," Gaara muttered, following suit. Temari was already gone, probably to pack as well.
The red-haired boy slowly made his way to his room, not really interested in accommodating his father's schedule; it would serve him right if Gaara did make him late. It was his fault he hadn't given them enough notice.
---
In the Land of Water, something similar was going on.
"So you understand, both of you?" the Mizukage asked as Zabuza and Haku read their papers again.
"...Yes, sir," Haku replied.
"Hn," was all Zabuza said, and he didn't seem about to elaborate.
"Good. You've both been selected because you excel. Physically, there's no match for you, Zabuza, and no on can match your intelligence, Haku. You'll leave at dawn if you both want to make it on time; you'll both be escorted by Haku's parents, and I hope you both know how much is riding on your behavior, yes?"
"Yes, sir," repeated Haku.
Zabuza didn't even bother to reply this time.
The Mizukage frowned, and Haku quickly kicked Zabuza lightly in the shin.
"We're honored you would choose us, right Zabuza?" Haku said pointedly.
"...Yeah," Zabuza said, the 'whatever' unspoken.
"All right, dismissed," the leader of the Mist Village said, turning away.
Bowing, Haku led Zabuza out.
"You have to be more respectful, Zabuza-kun! Think how proud our parents will be," Haku chided.
"Your parents," Zabuza muttered. "They're not mine, I'm just the adopted son."
Haku sighed. "C'mon, we're equal in their eyes, and you know it."
"Hn." Zabuza had shut him out again and walked ahead, leaving the shorter, effeminate boy behind.
That hurt, that constant cold shoulder. It had always been like that. Zabuza had been adopted by Haku's parents a year before Haku had been born. His parents had thought they couldn't have children, so they'd adopted Zabuza, but a year later, Haku was born. Somehow, Zabuza seemed to think they loved Haku more or something stupid like that, and regardless of what the younger boy said, the older was never convinced.
Haku sighed. Their relationship seemed more like a hostile animosity than sibling rivalry.
---
Hatake Kakashi stared silently at the picture before him. It was of his mother, holding the then-baby Kakashi, and his father. Both were dead, and had been for almost five years, but sometimes the silver-haired boy still missed them.
He put that thought out of his mind and carefully placed the picture atop the pile of clothing he had made, then carefully shut the suitcase. Tomorrow he would leave for Konoha Academy, which was an honor. He kept telling himself that, but it all seemed too surreal. He just didn't know what to do, but that happened a lot, and the eighteen year old had learned to cope.
Instead, he went over to his desk to reread the letter the Hokage had sent him. In short, he had been selected because he 'excelled in all areas' and 'showed great potential'. Kakashi snorted as he reread those parts and tossed the letter back onto the desk. He'd also received a list of all the other students attending, but hadn't bothered to look at it until now, the night before. Apparently some people had been allowed to enroll their children and hadn't needed to be selected, like he had been.
Land of Fire
Aburame Shino – male – 16 years old
Akimichi Choji – male – 16 years old
Hatake Kakashi – male – 18 years old
Haruno Sakura – female – 16 years old
Hyuga Hinata – female – 16 years old
Hyuga Neji – male – 17 years old
Inuzuka Kiba – male – 16 years old
Nara Shikamaru – male – 16 years old
Rock Lee – male – 17 years old
Tenten – female – 17 years old
Uchiha Sasuke – male – 16 years old
Umino Iruka – male – 18 years old
Uzumaki Naruto – male – 16 years old
Yamanaka Ino – female – 16 years old
Land of Wind
Sabaku Gaara – male – 16 years old
Sabaku Kankuro – male – 17 years old
Sabaku Temari – female – 18 years old
Land of Water
Momochi Zabuza – male – 18 years old
Hyoton Haku – male – 16 years old (I decided to use his kekkei genkai as his last name.)
Land of Lightning
Katsura – male – 18 years old
Maeka – female – 17 years old
Land of Earth
Daisuke – male – 16 years old
Iminori – female – 16 years old
Kakashi rolled his eyes. Most of them were younger than he was. Maybe he'd be fine after all.
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Author's Note: Yeah, the last 4 characters are OCs, because I don't know any of the characters from those countries very well, so sorry about that.
Wow. That was a lot darker than I intended it to be. Oops. Oh well, I'm too lazy to redo it at this point. I hope you liked it anyway.
Anyway, please leave a review. Like it? Hate it? Tell me. If you're going to bash my story, it's not like I can stop you, but why not try to change it into constructive criticism? I'd really appreciate that.
So, thanks for reading. I intend to do pairings with almost all of the chars, maybe the OCs too, so if you're interested, please say so.